Child marriages, scourge to the nation

The girl lives in Shinyanga and explains that the reason she was forced into marriage is because of the poverty in her family; “when I was in standard six, my parents said I should get married in order to get money for the basic needs of the family,” she narrates her ordeal.

“My family is poor, we were eating one meal per day and my parents said when I get married our family will become rich because they would get a lot of cows and goats,” detailed the teenage girl and mother of two.

The prominent tribe in Shinyanga are the Sukuma and it is a norm in their culture to wed at a young age and more so if the girl is light skin; “as for me, I hate that because it ruined my life,” she said with tears.
Early marriage

The Inter-Africa Committee on tradition practices affecting the health of women and children defines early marriage as; “any marriage carried out below the age of 18 years, before the girls is physically, physiologically and psychologically ready to shoulder the responsibility of marriage and childbearing.”

Child marriage endangers the emotional and physical wellbeing of girls by prematurely forcing them into sexual activities and exposing them to systematic sexual violence. Child marriage is a serious human rights violation that undermines the enjoyment of the full range of fundamental right and liberties to which children are entitled.

Child brides are pushed out of childhood and forced into extremely exploitative conditions which compel them to perform adult roles despite having only the capacity of children.

According the Spotlight on Child Marriage in Tanzania by Save the Children, the consequences of child marriage include deprived education, violence and isolation of young girls. Discriminative on and vague government policies and practices facilitate child marriages and seriously undermining girls’ education and opportunities.

In addition, customary laws run parallel to statutory law. The local customary law declaration order GN 279 of 1963 allows each ethnic group to follow and make decision based on its customs and traditions.

Arrested development
Increased domestic and sexual violence – Girls married young are more likely to experience violence, abuse and forced sexual relations.

Increased maternal health and infant health risks - Girls who marry and give birth before their bodies are fully develop are more at risks of mortality and morbidity.

Great exposure to HIV/AIDS – In Tanzania, early marriage girls between the age of 15-24 are more likely to be HIV positive than their unmarried counterparts (2.5 percent/2.0 percent)

Isolation and psychological trauma- Child brides are unable to cope with marriage life because at their young age, they are not well prepared to handle family matters.

Lack of education - Child marriage denies girls their right to education because many girls drop-out of school due to marriage and pregnancy. Child brides drop out of school to devote their time to house chores and child rearing.

Economic implications - Child marriage has negative impact on economic prosperity and development because of child marriage, girls miss the skills and knowledge to contribute to their country’s economic development and prosperity.

According to UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children report for 2015, in Tanzania, girls participation rates in primary school are quite high with a 98 percent enrollment rate and an 82 percent attendance but these statistics drop dramatically in secondary school with girls having an enrollment rate of only 26 percent and attendance rate of 24 percent .
The report also shows that 7 percent of girls are married by age 15 and it jumps to 37 percent by age 18.

Many of these girls drop-out of school due to marriage and many others due to pregnancy. Tanzania has not formally reviewed the education Act (1978) to prohibit the expulsion of pregnant school girls or to provide an alternative for them. Over the last decade, 55,000 Tanzanian girls are estimated to have been expelled from school for being pregnant.

Child marriage puts girls and women at greater risk of sexual and gender-based violence. The 2014 human right watch report ‘No way out: Child marriage and human rights abuses in Tanzania’ found that girls who reject or tried to resist marriage were assaulted and verbally abused or were thrown out.
What is being done?

The government of Tanzania plans to review the Marriage Act based on recommendation by the Tanzania law reform commission and will finalize a government paper for public consultation after the constitution review process.

The government is advised to work towards comprehensive reform of the Marriage Act including setting the minimum marriage age at 18. It should enact a domestic violence law to make sexual violence in marriage a criminal offense.
The government should also put an end to pregnancy testing in schools and married students to remain in school and take all possible steps to ensure all girls remain in school to complete their education.

Senior Advocacy and Campaign Manager of Save the Children Jasminka Milovanovic says child marriage is most common among women in Shinyanga, Tabora, Mara and Dodoma regions with over 50 per cent prevalence. Women in Shinyanga are more than seven times as likely to be married before 18 compared to those in Iringa where prevalence is only 8 percent.

Although child marriage reduced in Tanzania have decreased in recent years, they remain unacceptably high.
She maintained that Tanzania has among of the highest child marriage prevalence rates in the world and about 37 percent of women aged 20-24 were married before age 18 but data shows a 4 percent decline in this figure since 2004.

22.8 percent of girls edged 15 to 19 in Tanzania had children or were pregnant in 2010 while the adolescent fertility rate of birth per 1,000 girls aged 15-19 was 129 giving Tanzania the highest adolescent fertility rate.